Spring cleaning, is the clearing, the doing away with the old, to make way for the new – so as to start the year on a clean slate. Traditionally, the house will be given a dust/wash. Chinese New Year decorations will then be put up. They will mostly be in red, the auspicious colour believed to bring good luck.
Symbolically, spring cleaning is the clearing of negative energies so that positive energies can flow into the house. But I digress. Back to the baking of pineapple tarts.
My sister likes to do some baking. So, every year, without fail, she will bake some pineapple tarts because she feels home baked pineapple tarts are fresher and taste better. But, it is a tedious affair. So, I helped a bit with the odds and ends.
A step by step to making pineapple tarts the traditional way. The first day is the preparation of pineapple fillings. I think the pictures are quite self explanatory.
I am sure there is a easier way to do this - maybe a blender or a grinder. But my sister likes to do it her way.
The pineapple mash is then strained. I had pineapple juice for the next three days.
The strained pineapple mash.
The pineapple is cooked for about 2 hours. It has to be stirred constantly or it will stick to the pot and get burned. Sugar is added to taste. It also depends on how sweet the pineapples were.
The pineapple is left to cool over night. The next morning, (this is where I come in), they are rolled into tiny pineapple balls.
The second day - while I was preparing the pineapple 'balls', (fillings) my sister prepares the dough.
Ready dough.
The dough are shaped into balls. My job.
Wrapping the pineapple in the dough.
Pineapple tarts baking in the oven.
The baked pineapple tarts are left to cool.
When they are cooled, they go into tubs/containers, ready to be served.
I am not a baker, and I don't know much about baking. I hope the terms I used were correct and didn't mislead.
Making pineapples tarts is a lot of work. That is why they are expensive. Of course, part of the reason is it's a once a year festive thing, like the moon cakes, and dumplings, so their value during such times appreciated.
For me, it is just too much work. It is easier to go to the shop and get some. I am not a great fan of pineapple tarts anyway.
Of course, most of the pineapple tarts sold in the shops are factory made - mass produced, weeks ago. So, they never taste as fresh as home made ones.
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